‘ Showers do not signal rainy season’
TThe Herald, October 13, 1979 HE few light thunderstorms over Salisbury on Thursday night do not herald the beginning of the main rains, a spokesman for the Meteorological Office said yesterday.
The weather over the past few days has been the result of a moistening over the country and a pressure area across South Africa causing convergence to move from south to north. The heaviest rain in Salisbury up to 8 am yesterday was 7mm at Belvedere.
The spokesman said at this time of the year, there tended to be a build- up of heat which resulted in outbreaks of patchy thunderstorms and cooler weather in the south.
“Most years, we get two or three of these outbreaks. In fact, this year, we have probably had fewer than usual because we would expect to get one or two in September and we had none.”
“It is not the beginning of the main rains because these outbreaks are short- lived.”
LESSONS FOR TODAY
◆ The showers referred in the article are called “bumharutsva” in the chiShona language. They’re supposed to clean up the vegetation following the veld fires, but some farmers use them for land
preparation, while others plant. ◆ Whether farmers get anything from their efforts is a game changer considering that climate change is wreaking havoc across the globe.
◆ The beginning of this week saw the weather in the capital changing very drastically: windy and chilly when people were expecting continued hot weather. ◆ From October 31 to November 12, world leaders, bureaucrats, civil society will meet in the Scottish capital for the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties ( COP26).
◆ Africa as a collective, and individual countries are expected to outline the measures they will take to ensure that its air remains clean. Africa should avoid a situation where it becomes the developed world’s junk yard, which will adversely affect its citizens’ wellness and that of the national services.
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